


A Captain or Two from the Past

by RainbowMango



Category: Captain America (2011), The Avengers (2012), Torchwood
Genre: And then he and Steve meet up in the future?, Gen, M/M, Post Children of Earth and Avengers, Thor will appear later on, WHAT IF?!?!, What if Steve met Jack instead of Peggy?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-08-13
Updated: 2012-08-24
Packaged: 2017-11-12 01:17:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/485054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowMango/pseuds/RainbowMango
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Steve Rogers was chosen to receive the super soldier serum, he met one Captain Jack Harkness.  Now, nearly 70 years later, Steve and Jack meet up again.  Can Steve and the Avengers help Jack after what happened with the 456?  Or will Jack run?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Falling Out Of Touch

**Author's Note:**

> OK, so I'm not too sure of the dates regarding Steve's disappearance and re-emergence, nor am I 100% sure of the details around Captain Jack Harkness's disappearance during WW2. So for the purpose of this story, the real Jack Harkness disappeared in 1941 in Cardiff.
> 
> This has been inspired by the Tumblr post going around about how Steve met and fell for Jack instead of Peggy.
> 
> Enjoy :3

Memories clouded his mind, dragging him to the end and the beginning just a few months prior.  
Doctor Erksine… his serum… Stark… the Captain…

_The Captain._

Steve’s memories focused on Captain Jack Harkness, providing a hallucination so real that the pressure on his ears, the icy wind clawing his face, and the strange heaviness in his heart was the only things that spoiled his illusion.

_They stood single file, some talking and some not, with the sun battering them from up high. That was when he strolled into their line of vision. Tall, with a strong jaw line that supported a confident flirtatious grin. He was easily the best looking person on the base, man or woman. “Listen up boys and girls, I’m Cap’n Jack Harkness and I’m in charge of everything that goes on around here…_

“Steve! Get your arse off that ship right now!”  
“Sorry Captain. I need to make sure that she goes down.

 _“I got beat up behind that diner… in that alley way… and behind that shop…” Steve rambled. Sitting next to Jack Harkness did the same thing to his nerves as pretty girls did. “You got something against running away?” Jack asked, eyeing Steve in that less than virtuous way of his. “Well, once you start running you can never stop. You can’t keep saying ‘no’ forever right” Steve cautiously explained, looking at the Captain. A shadow covered Jack’s usually frivolous and mischievous eyes, bringing an aged and haunted look to the handsome man’s face. It’s there barely a second, replaced by his standard cocky/flirtatious expression. Before Steve had the time to ponder such a look, Jack spoke up. “What about that dance hall?” “The dance hall? Nah, never had any reason to go there.” “So… You’ve never danced?” “No. I guess I’m just waiting for the right partner.” As Steve said that, he risked a look at Harkness. Jack was staring at Steve with bright, curious eyes that sent shivers down Steve’s spine_.

His ears popped.

“We never did get that dance” Jack said in his ear. His usually lively voice sounded hollow and weary.

_Steve had just put his team together, and his best friend was going to be among them. He and Bucky were at the bar and the rest of the team was at a table nursing beers when Jack walked in. Steve and Bucky stood to attention and then the trio of defense force men sat at the bar and ordered. Two beers for Steven and Bucky and a glass of whiskey for Jack. And then they talked. And talked. And talked. They spoke about Hydra, upcoming missions, the rest of the war, baseball, and then broached the subject of dancing and dames. It was Bucky who asked the question that had been a nagging presence in Steve’s mind for a while. “Is there anyone you’re gonna take dancing after the war?” Jack took a gulp of his drink, scotch this time, and seemed to be lost in memories. He took another sip before looking at Steve and responding. “No, I guess I’m just waiting for the right dance partner to come along.”_

“How about next week?” Steve asked, injecting as much hope as he could into his voice, wishing and praying that his hope would rub off on the older man.  
“Seven pm, Saturday, Officers Club. Don’t keep me waiting” was Jack’s reply. Steve closed his eyes. Jack’s voice this time was worse, desolate, weary, and old. A hand clenched Steve’s heart. A hand belonging to fear and despair, colder than the ice that was rushing up to meet him.

_I’m not going to make it…_

**-2012-**

“You gonna be ok?”

“Yeah… just, I had a date”


	2. Random Meetings

“I call shotgun!”  Clint ‘Hawkeye’ Barton declared as Tony unlocked a sleek, four door beamer.  This declaration earned him a lazy punch from the Black Widow, a lazy punch for her that is.  
“Ow!  Tasha” Clint complains, rubbing his arm and glaring at her.  Natasha glared back, the two spooks communicating silently.  Clint pouts.  
“Fine… Tash calls shotgun” Clint sulks.

Natasha smiles and makes her way to the front seat as Clint and Steve open the two back doors.  
“Uh, don’t you think that I should have the front?”  Bruce Banner asks, eyeing the back seat with concern.  
“You have more self-control than I do Doctor” Natasha replies hopping in.  Bruce sighs and makes Clint shift to the middle seat before getting in.

Tony starts the car, which comes to life with a silent growl, and then hollers at Steve.  Steve had frozen by the open car door, staring at the street corner.  
“Hurry up Cap!  We haven’t got all day.”

But Steve wasn’t listening, he was too busy focused on a memory he had just watched walk around the corner.

Handsome.  Strong jaw line.  World War two great coat.

 _Captain Jack Harkness.  But…  It can’t be…_ I’m _here though…_

“Cap!  Cap!  Steve!”  
“Huh?  Oh, right” Steve sits in the car, squashing Clint slightly, and closes the door.  
“You all right there Cap?”  Tony asks, pulling into the street.  
“Yeah….  I just thought I saw someone I knew.”

  **ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ**

“So… You want me to find an old friend of yours from the forties?”  Tony asks, taking a sip of amber liquid.  
“Yes, Captain Jack Harkness” Steve replies, slightly agitated.  
“Well JARVIS, you heard the man.  Find Captain Jack Harkness for us” Tony orders his British sounding AI.  
“Searching right now sir” JARVIS replies, his circuitry combing every scrap of information accessible to him for Captain Jack Harkness.

“So who was this Harkness fellow?”  Tony asks, setting his empty glass on the kitchen table.  
“He’s an old friend of mine who was involved with the super soldier program in World War two” Steve answered, mind going back.  Luckily for Steve, JARVIS finishes his search and announces his findings before Tony could continue pestering Steve.

“One match for Captain Jack Harkness found.  RAF pilot who disappeared in London during the London Blitz in World War two.”

Confusion breaks Steve out of his nostalgic state.  
“Wait, what?!”  He exclaims, drawing Tony’s attention.  
“Captain Jack Harkness was a RAF pilot who disappeared during the London Blitz during World War two, Mr Rogers” JARVIS repeated, leaving out the exasperation that he usually showed when speaking to his master and maker.

“What’s the matter?”  Tony asks.  
“I read about the London Blitz before I was injected with Dr Erksine’s serum.  I had already met Captain Jack Harkness when he was supposed to be in London disappearing” Steve explained, confused.  Tony pauses, mulling the dilemma over with his less than sober brain.  
“So… A name from a successful experiment decades ago doesn’t match up with recorded history.  And wasn’t the experiment attacked any ways?”  Tony says, refilling his glass.  
“Tony!  Shouldn’t we tell someone?  Fury?”  Steve asks, not all that shocked at Tony’s reaction.  
“You can if you want” Tony answers, walking off towards the elevator, presumably to go to his lab.

“Sir, I wouldn’t if I were you” JARVIS interrupts, “Fury has just arrived and he asked me to get everyone to the briefing room ASAP.”  Tony stopped and gave an irritated sigh.  
“JARVIS, we have already talked about this.  Fury doesn’t get in this building without permission from me” Tony explained to his AI like he was talking to a child.  But he doesn’t do anything about it, just gesture for Steve to follow him.

“Well, now you can tell Nick about your little conspiracy theory” Tony quipped, as they both walked to the elevators.  Steve shook his head at Tony’s callous behaviour, but Captain Jack Harkness remained stuck in Steve’s mind.

**ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ**

Five of the six Avengers (Thor is still on Asguard) sat around an oblong table, reading the information etched on the guts of manila files.  Fury stood at the head of the table leading the briefing for the Avengers next mission.  
“We had everything in place to take this group down.  We were going to catch them red handed in an act of terrorism” Fury was saying, sounding slightly irritated which translated into being totally pissed off for Nick Fury.  Something had happened to the organisation that SHIELD was after this week, and where there was a flurry of activity was now silence.  It was like a man falling dead from an aneurysm.  One minute healthy and full of life, dead and silent the next.  
All SHIELD had left was one warehouse that still showed signs of life.

Tony raised his hand, a question basically falling off of his lips, but Fury ignored him.  Not that that deterred Tony.  
“So what happened?  Your minions screw up?”  The question fell off Tony’s lips full of snark and cynicism.  
“No Mr Stark, the organisation suddenly fell silent.  One minute there’s chatter and we’re receiving intel about an attack on American soil, the next, nothing.”  Fury responded, one of his hands twitching unnoticeably with the urge to smack the genius inventor.  
“How does that just happen?”  Bruce asked, voice quiet and enquiring.  
“We don’t know” Fury answered politely, liking Dr Banner more than Tony, “that’s why I’m sending you guys to the last warehouse of theirs that has a mere whisper coming from it to investigate.”  Bruce nodded, satisfied with the answer before asking another question.  
“You won’t need me though” the statement was more of a question.  
“No, we won’t need your alter ego.  You’ll stay behind with me and help on this side of the op Dr Banner” Fury answers, mollifying Bruce.  
“What do you think about this Captain?  You’ve been awfully quiet over there” Fury continued, pulling Steve from the depths of his mind.

Steve’s head jolted up, his gaze suddenly shifting from the papers on the table to Fury.  
“Sorry sir, what was the question?”  Steve answered.  He had been reading the file in front of him and thinking about Jack Harkness.  Fury stared at Steve for a brief moment, studying him.  
“Go get ready.  I expect you guys to be on the helicarrier in one hour” Fury ordered.  He then sat down as the top-notch team got up and left, minus their esteemed and currently distracted leader.

“Everything all right Cap?”  Fury asks, shuffling through papers in a file.  
“Don’t know” Steve responds, eyes downcast, deep in thought again.  Fury stopped moving the papers around and looks at Steve, waiting.

“I had Tony look up an old friend today” Steve started, “and… records show that when he was in America working with me he was actually in the London Blitz going MIA.”  
“And who’s this soldier?”  Fury asked.  
“Jack Harkness.  Captain Jack Harkness.”

Fury sighed.  Harkness.  He hadn’t realised that Torchwood had stuck their noses in the super soldier program in the forties.  Steve looked up at the sigh, eyeing Fury sharply.  
“You know something sir?”  Steve suspiciously asked.  
“Captain Jack Harkness was a part of a rogue British organisation called Torchwood.  Now Torchwood dealt with aliens and their tech.  But they, and Captain Harkness, have been dealt with.  Torchwood has been disbanded” Fury answered, mind going back to a report he read recently about the 456 incident.  Steve’s brow furrowed as he mulled over this new information about the man he once had feelings for.

_Rogue organisation?  Jack?  I… I… I don’t know…_

“You sure?”  Steve asked, tiredly propping his chin on his hands.  
“About what?”  Fury asked.  
 _You sure that Jack is basically a traitor._  
“I don’t know”

**ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ**

Steve, Clint, and Natasha filed onto the quinjet, Steve and Clint stowing their respective equipment before taking a seat.  Clint and Natasha took the pilot and co-pilot seats, relegating Steve to one of the passenger seats in the cockpit.  Outside the window, Iron Man was wandering around the hanger, waiting for them.  
“You slow pokes ready yet?”  Tony’s bored voice came over the speakers.  None of the occupants of the aircraft paid the eccentric genius any attention, and Natasha used the radio to talk to those on the bridge of the helicarrier.  
“This is Quinjet Three and Iron Man ready for departure.”  
“You guys are good to go, what’s your ETA?”  Fury responded, voice not showing his Tony stressed state.  
“Uhh, about thirty minutes Fury” Clint replied, pushing a button that caused the engines to rev.  
“OK, contact us when you land.  Good luck” and Fury’s disembodied voice left them alone.  Clint and Natasha collectively flipped a few switches and pushed a few buttons, and the quinjet rose.

“Race you guys there” Tony taunted and then he and his red-and-gold Iron Man suit jumped out of the hanger, vanishing with a blink of the eye.  The two super spies exchanged a look of mixed confidence, annoyance, and glee.  Steve caught the look and instinctively reached for the chairs seat belt, and not a moment too soon.  The second the belt clicked into place, the jet was propelled out the hanger after Iron Man.

“Watch out Stark” “We’re gonna get you” Hawkeye and Black Widow taunted; and together, they piloted the quinjet more skilfully and dangerously than Tony flew his Iron Man suit.  
“Just get us there in one piece please” Steve quips, internally supporting the duo in this impromptu race.  
“Cap” Clint all but simpers.  
“Don’t under estimate us” Natasha finishes, and Steve could hear their grins in their tones.  
A comfortable silence descended on the group, Tony, Clint, and Tasha all focused on piloting their vessels and Steve focused on the mystery that is Captain Jack Harkness.

As per usual with Tony, the silence didn’t last long.  It only lasted fifteen-twenty minutes before the speakers blared into life bearing Tony’s voice.  
“So Cap, did you tell ol’ Nicky about your friend?”  
Steve didn’t respond.  He grabbed a headset and slid it over his head and took a breath.  
“Yeah… Yeah I did Tony” is Steve’s vague response, and he lapses into another silence.  Tony, Natasha, and Clint wait a few minutes for Steve to elaborate, some more patiently than others.  He doesn’t.  
“Annnnd” Tony impatiently prompts, drawing out the ‘and’.  Steve maintains his silence for a few seconds, gathering his words.  
“Fury knew of him.  Apparently Jack was a part of a rogue organisation called Torchwood.  But… they’ve been dealt with according to Fury.”

Clint and Natasha surreptitiously tensed up, not that anyone would be able to tell, at the mention of Torchwood.  Being high up in the world of assassins, spooks, and secrets, they had heard numerous rumours about Torchwood and their enigmatic leader.  That and, they all knew what Fury meant by ‘dealt with’.

The rumbling of hard pushed engines made background music for the silence as everyone pondered Steve’s words and their implications.  
The engine-backed silence rots, becoming awkward.  
A piece of machinery beeped, and Iron Man appeared on the radar.  
Tony shatters the spoiled silence.  
“Impressive, you guys actually caught up” Tony’s voice was tinged with grudging respect.  The super spies wore identical smirks and the distance between them and Tony began visibly shrinking.

“Thank your lucky stars Stark” Natasha muttered sounding almost petulant before communicating with SHIELD.  “We’ve arrived and are about to land, we’ll contact you upon completion of the mission.”  
“Affirmative Widow” Fury replied from a few hundred miles away, “remember, we want survivors.”  
“Gotcha Fury” Natasha replied, and Clint absently nodded.  Fury’s reminder was meant for the both of them.  
Clint and Natasha began landing procedure, leaving Iron Man hovering above them.  The quinjet touched land similar to a butterfly, and Clint and Steve unbuckled to gather their equipment.  Natasha also takes her seat belt off, but remains sitting, doing some post flight check-ups.  A thud outside signalled Tony’s landing and the trio joined their teammate outside, armed and dangerous.

Outside was hot.  Shrubs cling to the light brown ground, their greedy roots cracking the very ground supporting them.  In the distance was a barn, belonging to the group they were after.  It didn’t look like the warehouse Fury had been talking about.  It looked slightly dilapidated and worn, but every member of the Avengers knew not to judge a book by its cover.  Who knew what could be hidden inside the very barn they were approaching.

“We ready to rumble?”  Tony asked, voice distorted by his face plate.  
“We are, but first, can you do a scan of the building to see the numbers inside?”  Steve asked, taking the role of leader that the other Avengers nominated him for.  
“Sure thing Cap” Tony answered, stepping closer to the old building to do the scan.  
“Hawkeye, when we breach, I want you up high keeping an eye on things and taking out targets that we miss” Steve continues ordering, turning to Natasha, “you, Iron Man, and I will scout the floor and find out what we can.”  
Black Widow and Hawkeye nod their acceptance of Cap’s orders and Iron Man turns back to the team.  
“Something’s going down guys.  There’s a handful of heat blobs inside, but one blob seems to be killing the other blobs” Tony reported.  
“Let’s go, Tony, you go on head and get a visual on the situation inside” Cap commanded urgently, and the Avengers charged.  Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow on the ground and Iron Man streaking just above the ground.

Just as Tony reached the falling down barn, one of the doors opened a crack, releasing one person in a great coat before the entire barn exploded.

Tony was sent spiralling out of the sky, nearly hitting his teammates.  Thankfully they had been knocked to the ground by the explosion and out of the way of the flying Iron Man.  The man who had gotten out of the barn before the explosion was also sent flying, with a wooden beam in his back.

  
“That went well” Clint commented, getting to his feet and helping Tasha up.  Clint often took pride, internally, of being one of the few people that Natasha trusted enough to allow them to help her up.  
“I’ll say” Tasha replied “that looked like a self-destruct.”  
“Fury’s gonna be pissed” is all Tony said as he joined the two spies in staring at the smouldering wreckage.  Clint and Tasha agreed, both remembering the survivor order Fury gave them.    
Steve got to his knees and froze.  The lone escapee was lying on his stomach with a piece of the barn protruding from his back.

“Aw jeez” Clint groaned, having turned back and seen the dead guy, “that looks painful.”  Natasha and Tony turned back to look at the body,  
“Got that right bird-brain” Tony muttered before noticing that Steve was still on his knees.  “Cap?”  
Three pairs of eyes settled on a shell shocked Steve, who was still staring at the body in front of him.  Natasha made the first move, kneeling next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder.  
“Hey Steve, you ok?”  
“It’s him” Steve whispered, eyes wide and glued to the body.  The man was wearing the tattered remains of a World War Two officer’s coat and from what could be seen of his face, you could see his strong jaw line. 

_Jack?  I... I did see him?  What???  Jack…_

Steve got to his feet, inadvertently shaking Tasha’s hand off, and pulled the giant sliver of wood from his back.  
“Who Steve?”  Natasha spoke again as Steve turned to face his team.  
“Captain Jack Harkness, the friend I told you about on the jet.”

The dead body of Jack Harkness shuddered and gasped, suddenly full of life.


	3. He's Really Immortal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, romance sorta wrote itself out of the story, sorry for all you Steve/Jack shippers. And, I am not too sure about what dates Jack was in London and a part of Torchwood. One last thing before you can continue on with the story, this is a post CoE story. Jack is emotionally damaged. So he won't be as flirty as he normally is.
> 
> Enjoy :3

The dead body of Jack Harkness shuddered and gasped, suddenly full of life.

The improvised wooden dagger clattered to the hard ground and the four Avengers whirled around in absolute sync, like a group of dancers.  Tony raised his hands, repulsers glowing, Clint notched and aimed an arrow, Natasha aimed her two guns, and Steve raised his shield.  Four pairs of eyes zeroed in on the previously dead guy.  
“What the” Tony began, confusion lacing his computerised voice.  
“Hell” Clint finished off, just as confused, as the recently deceased Captain Harkness got to his knees gasping like a recently revived drowning victim.

“Ugh, my back” Jack complains, unaware of the weapons pointed at him, “I’m getting too old for this.”  
“Really?  Well, you look pretty lively for a dead guy” Tony’s inhuman sounding voice snarked, conveying his sarcasm surprisingly well.  Jack froze when he heard Iron Man’s voice.  He looked up, and slowly raised his hands in front of him in the classic sign of peaceful surrender.  Dressed in a shiny red and gold suit of armour, Tony is usually the first Avenger that people see.  This is true in Jack’s case also.  Captain America is the second Avenger that Jack lays his eyes on, and in that moment, Jack swore that his already shattered heart broke just a little more.  
“Jack” Steve murmurs, surprise, disbelief, and a smidge of hurt swirling around his face.  
“Steve” Jack brokenly whispers back.  Jack shifts his gaze to take in the rest of the team present.  Realisation floods Jacks eyes as he realises that it’s the Avengers standing in front of him.  
 _I guess that Nick got his little pet project up and going_ Jack thought and he couldn’t help but grin a little.

Clint voiced the tangible confusion that the Avengers were giving off.  
“What the ever-living crap is going on here?  Steve?”  
“I… Jack?”  Steve redirects the question to Jack.  Jack hesitated.  
“Why don’t we go somewhere more comfortable first and then you guys can ask questions to your heart’s content” Jack answers, pasting his usual grin on his face.  The four exchange looks, considering Jacks suggestion.  
“I’m all for it, SHIHELD’s coffee is surprisingly decent for a government organisation” Tony informs the small group, voicing his opinion.  
“We have a survivor like requested” Clint comments to Natasha, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.  Natasha in turn shrugs.  
“He’ll have to be restrained” Natasha comments, and Jack’s grin gains sexual undertones.  Jack rises off his knees, keeping his hands open and in front of him.  
“You wanna do the honours Captain?”  Jack queries suggestively with a flirty quirk of his eyebrow.  Natasha raises her eyebrows in surprise and Tony and Clint let out shocked snorts of laughter at Jacks proposition.  Steve, on the other hand, couldn’t help the grin that snuck across his face as he shakes his head at his old friend.

Clint releases the tension in his bow, keeping the arrow notched, and grabbed a set of zip tie cuffs from his pocket.  Steve takes the proffered zip tie and attaches them to Jack’s hand.  
“Come on” Steve says, and the five of them make their way back to the quinjet with a raging inferno at their backs.

**ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ**

The four Avengers and one ‘prisoner’ have made themselves comfortable in the quinjet.  Well, as comfortable as they could be with Jack blatantly leering at them.  Although, Clint and Natasha were mostly hidden from Jack by the pilot and co-pilot’s seats.  This seating arraignment left Steve and Tony keeping Jack company in the cabin of the quinjet.  
The silence between the three men in the cabin was borderline awkward, and as with most awkward silences around Tony, they don’t last long.  This time though, it wasn’t Tony that broke the silence.  Steve does.

“You were dead.  I pulled a hunk of wood out of your back!”  Steve exploded, surging to his feet.  Steve and Tony were both startled by the sudden outburst.  
 _His blood stained the ground in front of me…_  
“Short story?  I can’t die” Jack answered, unusually serious.  Steve collapsed back into his seat, next to Tony, his face painted a mix of shock and disbelief.  Tony snorted in disbelief, voice undistorted by his open face plate.  
“Immortal?”  Tony scoffed at the few hundred-year-old-immortal-ex-time-traveller.  A cynical look wormed its way into Jacks face.  It twisted his face into an angry frown and darkened his usually twinkling eyes.  
“You are on a team of superheroes, one of whom is the demi-god Thor- and _you_ don’t believe me?”  Jack viciously shot back at Tony.  Hesitation played across the hole in Tony’s armour.  He wagged a metal clad finger at Jack.  
“I see your point” Tony conceded.  Steve remained silent, fidgeting in his seat, bursting at the seams with confusion and unasked questions.

“So… How old are you then?”  Tony asks, taking Jacks apparent immortality with a very large grain of salt.  Jack thought about it for a moment, trying to put a number to his age.  He couldn’t.  
“Some people find a question like that rude Mr Stark” Jack answers cheekily.  Although, the flirtatious and confident look he was wearing seemed to miss Jack’s eyes.  Tony chuckled at the evasive response, but before he could comment on it, Steve spoke up for the first time.  
“What were you doing in America in ’45?” Steve asked, troubled.  Jack looks at Steve, facial expressions changing for the worse again.  He sighed and gazed at his zip tied hands.  Seeing Steve again was bringing back unpleasant memories, both old and new, that Jack tries to keep repressed.  
“Torchwood was interested in Erksine’s serum, so I volunteered to go” Jack said, giving them the edited version- similar to the one Jack gave Torchwood all those years ago.  Tony and Steve sensed that what Jack told them was the truth, just omitted.  But neither Avenger called him out on it.

“Guys, helicarrier’s coming up” Natasha’s voice calls out to them from the cockpit.  
“Thanks Tasha” Tony yells back, and the quinjet shudders.  The light shining through the cockpit and into the cabin dims and there is a gentle thud of metal upon metal.  The jets engines stop whining the rear hatch opens, revealing Director Fury and a handful of armed agents.  The three men in the back of the jet get to their feet, Steve and Tony standing opposite to Jack, and start to exit the vehicle.

That’s when it happened.

Captain Harkness and Director Fury make eye contact.  Two blue and one brown.  Recognition flash through their minds; and Fury nods once.  The men standing abreast of Fury open fire, loading Jack’s body with bullets.  Steve adopts a defensive position behind his red, blue and white shield while Tony closes his face plate and hides behind his arms, yelling all the while.  Clint and Natasha remain safe in the cockpit, a move that reveals their foreknowledge.

“Woah!   What the hell?!  Fury!!”  Tony cries out, lowering his hands once the bullets stop.  Steve leaves the cover of his shield to check on Jack.  _My friend dead in front of me… Again…_   Natasha and Clint leave the jet, strolling past Jack’s mangled body, living up to their reputation.  Steve presses his fingers to Jack’s still warm neck, feeling no life, as two of the faceless SHEILD agents board the flying vessel.  
“He’s dead” Steve darkly informs everyone, his baby blues glued to the blood splattered face of his friend.  _Despite everything Fury told me, and what I’ve found out, he was still my friend._  
The two agents who riddled Jack’s body with fatal holes drag the limp body out of the jet and out of sight.  Steve stands up, and stumbles back slightly, standing next to Tony, who had lifted his face plate again, revealing a face that was an emotional reflection of Steve’s.

Fury turned his lone eye to the two shell shocked national icons, observing their twin looks.  
“Meet me in the observation room for Interrogation’s five and six and everything will be explained there” Fury requests, leaving no room for debate.  Steve turned to look at Tony, and he saw the same questions buzzing around his own head in Tony’s eyes.  
“Well, let’s go see what Fury has to say for himself Cap” Tony churned out and walked out of the quinjet.  Still in shock, Steve followed Tony out of the quinjet, mind drowning in the images of Jack Harkness being needlessly gunned down.

**ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ**

As Tony approached the observation room between Interrogation’s five and six, he could faintly hear Fury’s tones vibrating through the closed door.  
“… Rogers, why don’t we wait for Mr Stark to get here before I ex-” Tony flinging the door open, making an entrance, cut Fury off.  All the Earth-born Avengers and Fury turned their gaze to him.  The late billionaire regarded his friends, and Fury, before walking into the room, swinging the door shut behind him.  
“So Fury, you got a decent ex…plan…ation…” Tony trails off having caught the sight of one bullet hole-less Captain Jack Harkness.    Tony was speechless, a rare occurrence.  Everyone had a glimmer of humour in their expressions at the sight, hidden beneath the frustrated (Steve), confused (Bruce), and calm (Clint and Natasha) facades.  
“Now that you’re here Stark, I can explain what is going on” Fury said condescendingly.  But, Tony being Tony spoke up again before Fury could continue.  
“Son of a bitch really is immortal isn’t he?”  Tony utters, eyes still glued to the man he saw die.  Steve tensed up at the comment while Bruce just grew more confused.  The three spooks in the room didn’t bat an eye at Tony’s comment.  
“Yes Tony, Captain Jack Harkness is immortal.  We don’t know how though.  All that we know is that he ended up on Torchwood’s radar in 1869 after dying a few dozen times.”

Silence follows Fury’s little explanation.  Five pairs of eyes mirror each other, widening in shock at the confirmation.  Despite four of the present Avenger’s having seen Jack’s immortality in person, the idea of someone continuously dying and coming back to life filled the room from top to bottom with belief.  
“Immortal?  And you never figured out how?”  Bruce questioned incredulously.  
“Yes, immortal.  And he never told us how it happened” Fury admitted.  That admission shocked the civilian elements of the Avengers, their perception of SHIELD being an all knowing and all powerful government agency.  
“He didn’t tell you?” Steve asked voice quiet with shock.  _Learning how this happened to him could save lives…  Cure people, so why hasn’t he told anyone?_  
“No” Fury repeated, “but that’s why he’s in there.  We are going to talk to him and find out three things.  One; how he became immortal.  Two; whether or not he is a threat to Earth.  And three; what happened to the terrorist organisation that we were hunting.”  A nod of agreement did its own little Mexican Wave around the room.  Fury’s plan sounded good in theory.  Then Clint had a brain wave.  The stoic mask the marksman was wearing slipped off, replaced by a cheeky grin.  The only two people in the room who had seen such an expression on the archers face (Natasha and Fury) started worrying, remembering the last time the aforementioned grin surfaced.  Bruce and Tony had seen that type of grin before, just on the formers face.

Seeing such a grin on a billionaire genius with a habit of making robots and explosions was bad enough.  But seeing it on a master assassin who doubles and the world’s greatest marksman?  It’s enough to make _anyone_ a little nervous.  
“Agent Barton” Fury grounds out, “care to explain what you’re grinning about?”  Clint tried smothering the grin with professionalism.  
“Well, I was just thinking that if even half the rumours about Harkness are true, this’ll be one entertaining interrogation.  We’ll need popcorn” Clint answered, adding the last part as an afterthought.  Tasha’s eyes lit up, twinkling with humour, as she realised what Clint was talking about.  Fury’s mouth twisted into a slight smirk.  Steve, Tony, and Bruce all looked a little lost.  
“What rumours?”  Steve and Tony ask simultaneously, looking between the three spies and Jack.  
“They’re mostly about Jacks sexual escapades and infamous innuendoes” Clint summarises in one go.  Steve thought back to when he knew Jack Harkness.  Understanding flooded his posture and eyes as he realised what Clint was talking about.  
“Ahh…” is all Steve said on the matter, conveying his understanding, “so, who’s going to talk to him?”  This question was directed at Fury.  All eyes turned to the director in question, waiting for his opinion.  
“Agent Romanov and Captain Rogers will talk to Harkness” Fury announced to the room.  Clint, still wearing his shit eating grin, was mentally predicting the entertainment value of the upcoming interrogation.  Bruce Banner was thinking something along the same lines as Clint, but not as crudely as Clint nor did his thoughts show on his face.  Tony opens his mouth to protest, but a look from Fury had him closing it again, thinking that watching will be just as good as participating.

Natasha tilted her head at the door, looking at Steve.  Steve got her silent message, nodded and stood up.  The two of them then made their way to the observation room door.  
“Any of you geniuses know how to get popcorn in about three seconds?”  Clint asks the Science Bro’s excitedly.  
“Nope” slips from Tony’s bearded mouth.  
“Sorry” is Bruce’s apologetic answer at the same time as Tony.  
“Shame” Clint murmurs, not really caring either way as the door on the other side of the two way mirror swings open.


End file.
